Iranian Government Recognizes Crypto Mining as an Industry

The government of Iran has decided to accept crypto mining as a separate industry, as reported by local news website IBENA. The decision has been backed by the Central Bank of Iran, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Ministry of Industry, the Mining and Trade, the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance.

Abolhassan Firouzabadi, Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace’s Secretary, said: “The policy of the National Cyberspace Center is organizing cryptocurrencies and Central Bank as a trustee in foreign exchange area”. He added that another “decision-making authority” will finalize the framework, trade policies, and crypto startup participation by the end of September. It is to be noted that the final set of rules and regulations for crypto mining haven’t been finalized by the government yet.

The Iranian government also plans to launch a national cryptocurrency. According to Firouzabadi, it will be “promising and can be used as a financial transaction instrument with Iran’s trade partners and friend countries amid economic pressures through U.S. sanctions.”

Last month, it was announced that a draft for the national cryptocurrency was ready. The president of Iran, Iran Hassan Rouhani, was also involved in its completion.

Venezuela, like Iran, had also planned on launching its own oil-backed cryptocurrency “Petro” last year. In February 2018, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that Petro had raised $735 million on the first day of sale. The next month, Maduro said that a total of $5 billion had been raised from 127 countries.

However, US citizens were banned from trading in Petro. Reuters also reported that the Petro was not available on any major crypto exchange. The currency was widely criticized by blockchain and crypto experts worldwide. Elliptic’s Tom Robinson said, “This certainly doesn’t look like a typical ICO, given the low level of transaction activity. We have found no evidence that anyone has been issued a petro, nor of it being actively traded on any exchange.”